Set up by The Dark Knight Rises star and production partner Dean Baker, Hardy Son & Baker will work with NBCUniversal International Television Production to develop scripted series intended for the U.S. and international marketplace.

JoAnn Alfano, evp scripted programming at NBCU-ITVP, will work with Hardy Son & Baker.

Alfano described Hardy and Baker as "passionate storytellers with a talent for telling original, unconventional stories" with the ability to attract "first-class talent" to their projects.

Hardy said in a statement: "NBCUniversal is a great fit for Hardy Son & Baker, and this partnership is a fantastic next step in the endeavor to build our company into a major international TV drama producer."

Baker added: "Tom and I love cinema of the '70s -- the films of [Martin] Scorsese, [Francis Ford] Coppola, [Robert] Altman, [Stanley] Kubrick -- and it’s clear that modern-day television has become the dramatic equivalent of those films. At its best, television with its deeply nuanced characters and complex narratives is, by far, the most exciting and ambitious dramatic medium."

The deal was announced today by Michael Edelstein, president of NBCUniversal International Television Production.

Hardy Son & Baker was formed in 2012 with the aim of creating films, TV and documentaries.

The company produced Poaching Wars for British commercial web ITV, a primetime documentary series starring Hardy, and is also co-producing drama series Taboo with Ridley Scott of Scott Free for the BBC's flagship channel BBC One.